


Lost Stars

by SSilverScaly



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aguará Guazú!Oikawa, Alternate Universe - Animals, Brother Bear inspired, Fantasy, Fox!Miya twins, M/M, Maned Wolf!Oikawa, No beta sorry, Other, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Wolves!Matsun & Makki, alternative universe, spirits and gods, wolf!iwaizumi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26071273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SSilverScaly/pseuds/SSilverScaly
Summary: After a near-death experience, Oikawa Toru wakes up in the body of strange animal, his human body unconscious beside him, and a thousand questions.What the hell happened? How does he turn this back? How did he end up traveling with a grumpy lone wolf?Hopefully he won't die before answering all of them.
Relationships: Hanamaki Takahiro & Matsukawa Issei, Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kita Shinsuke & Miya Atsumu & Miya Osamu, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tendou Satori & Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 51





	1. Blessed and cursed

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: Descriptions of drowning. Not extremely explicit, but just in case.

The late afternoon sky was disappearing behind grey clouds when Toru started to make his way back to the village. His legs and arms felt heavy and tired from walking, tracking and searching since the early morning. The limp bodies of two rabbits hung from one of his shoulders, while a bag with all the edible plants he could find dangled from the other. He would have liked to find more meat, but most of the traps had been empty when he checked. 

The young man sniffed the air, catching the familiar smell of rain, and casted a frown to the sky. Just what he needed.

_‘I hope I make it back before it starts pouring_.’ He hurried up his pace, thinking back on the reason he was out there at all.

The assault had been a surprise. It was by mere chance that someone had woken up to find the wolves raiding their food supplies and alerted the rest of the sleeping village. The wild animals didn't stay long when they realized they had been found and hurried back to the protection of the woods. Luckily no one was killed, but some of the villagers had to be treated for bites. The incident had raised many eyebrows, given that wolves didn’t tend to get near a lot of villages. There had been times when scouts spotted some, but they never looked interested in getting near the humans.

So now Toru found himself having to go out day after day to help restock the lost food. He wasn’t the only one, of course, but after the wolves left, it had been decided that some hunters had to stay in the village at all times just in case. It wouldn’t make sense to find food if the animals attacked again. Toru was part of the group that had to gather food, mainly because of his good tracking skills. He recognized the areas where wild animals used to pass through and found good spots to plant traps for them, but never going overboard with them. He suspected part of the reason those wolves had assaulted them had to do with not finding enough prey by themselves. 

He couldn’t really complain, as at least this gave him a reason to get out and maybe come across something, anything mildly interesting. Life at the village wasn’t bad, but it was so simple. When he was a kid, everything that the adults did looked interesting, but now being a grown up himself, it was just dull. It said a lot that the wolves’ assault had been the most interesting event in months, maybe the whole year. 

As he jogged carefully through the uneven terrain, he started to hear the telltale rushing of water from the nearby river. Now he just had to follow it to reach his village, just half an hour away. But the sky couldn’t seem to want to wait that long and finally released a downpour.

“Gods, why do you hate me so much?” Toru grumbled, completely soaked in seconds. He really had to hurry now, the river could easily overflow if it continued to rain that much. He cursed as he almost tripped when he stepped on some rocks. _‘I wanted some excitement in my life, not a broken leg.’_

He kept going, more slowly now to not slip off on the wet terrain. The sound of the river was stronger now, in some steps he finally was able to see it. The side where he stood was elevated, so for now there was no need for worrying about a flood. Toru stopped for a second to secure his hold on the rabbits and a loud noise, probably a thunder, went off near, making him almost jump. ‘ _Great_.’ It had been enough for the day, now he just wanted to get home. 

After making sure that the rabbits wouldn’t fall off, Toru was about to continue when a high-pitched yelp reached his ears. It was an animal, no doubt about it, but animals didn’t give away their position like that. The young man frowned when he heard it once more. It was coming from the opposite direction of his village. He needed to get home quickly and get away from the rain, but… his curiosity was stronger. ‘ _I can spare just a minute._ ’ 

He followed the sound. Just some meters from where he had been standing he came across a big broken branch. _‘I guess that was the loud crash from before._ ’ He inspected it, assuming that the strong rain had made it fall down. Then his eyes caught something moving beneath the branch, and the yelping started again. Toru hurried to get around it, careful since it was closer to the edge that faced the river than he would have liked, and found a fox trapped under its weight. The animal, a creature of gray and black fur from what he could see, was struggling to free itself.

Toru bit his lip. ‘ _It’s too heavy… But i’m sure i could lift it enough.’_ But should he? They had just been raided by wild animals, and while foxes weren’t much of a threat, a bit of the paranoia from his fellow villagers had slipped in his head. What if he saved it and it followed him? But it was small, they could just scare him away if it did. Should he even help a wild predator?

A whimper pulled him back to reality. The fox looked at him, apparently having noticed his presence. A pair of brown eyes stared at him, and Toru didn’t know if it was his imagination, but it was like they were asking him to help. 

“Oh, for the gods’ sake… Alright, i’ll get you out.” He said, even if the animal probably didn’t understand him at all. He walked a few steps away to put down his stuff -hopefully the fox would be grateful enough to not try and steal anything- and then went back. “This shouldn’t be too difficult.” Slipping both hands under the branch, Toru pulled up. It was quite heavy, but it didn’t take long for the fox to have enough space to move and get out from under it. 

Toru smiled and was about to drop his hold when his foot slipped. His hands tried to grab onto something, but found only air. A scream left his throat as he fell into the water below. 

For what felt like an eternity, he couldn’t see anything. The rush of the water was almost deafening. Then he managed to get his head to the surface and took a huge breath. The current was strong and took Toru with it, even if he tried to go against it with all his strength. Panic filled him as he was forced under the water once more. Was this the end? Is this how he died? He should have gone straight home, ignoring his damned curiosity. He shouldn’t have saved that stupid fox. That thing was probably eating his food while he was here, struggling to not drown. 

His chest burned as he tried to hold his breath, arms trying in vain to reach the shore. He could feel himself getting lightheaded and losing focus. His body hit something, rocks probably, and that was enough to knock the little air that he had out of him. Hands reached to his throat on instinct, mouth gaping as his lungs filled with water. His vision, bad enough already, blurred. In no time, he blacked out.

.

.

.

And a second later, he opened his eyes with a jolt, gaping for oxygen. His chest rose and fell with each breath, agitated. His mind was foggy, but gaining clarity little by little. Winding down from the panic, he started to process everything. First and most important, he was out of the water, lying on the ground. He could hear the river, so he must be on the shore. Maybe he washed up there, just on the verge of death. The rain had stopped, too.

‘ _That was a close one_.’ 

He let himself rest for some minutes, closing his eyes. After that scare, he had to relax a bit before getting up. Focusing on the noises around him, like birds, the water and the wind, Toru thought he could hear everything a bit louder than normal. And breathing in, the smell from the earth and the woods was stronger too.

‘ _Maybe that’s how one feels after almost dying_ .’ He thought. ‘ _Well, time to get going._ ’ He opened his eyes and stood up…

… and fell down instantly. 

He blinked in utter confusion. And then he noticed another thing. His body felt weird. Extremely weird. He looked down at his hands and promptly screamed.

“WHAT IN THE WORLD?!”

He tried to stand up again, managing to sit up and stared. 

‘ _Paws?! Why do I have paws?!’_

Toru turned his head backwards to look at the rest of his body, finding fur where once were clothes and skin. 

“No. No no no no.”

He pushed himself up, long, skinny legs almost losing their balance. He staggered for a moment before pulling himself together. With clumsy steps, he walked to the water to look at himself. 

The reflection showed what looked like a fox’s face, with the long pointed muzzle and big ears. Most of his fur was a slightly reddish brown. The tip and lower part of his muzzle was dark, but the fur turned white on the sides of his head. Half of his neck was white too, but it morphed to the dark brown as it went lower. The hair at the back of his neck was dark, pointing up, like a crest. He frowned at the image in the water, seeing how the face moved. He opened his mouth to reveal small fangs and teeth. 

Toru turned away from the water and looked at his body again. Lanky legs, covered in dark brown for the most part, making him too tall to be a fox, even taller than a wolf. His body was way bigger than a fox’s in general. The crest of dark fur continued to the half of his back. His tail wasn’t as fluffy either, the end of it white. 

“I look like some sort of fox and wolf mix...” He frowned at himself, then looked up to scan the terrain around him. In his panic, he hadn't paid any attention to his surroundings. He sort of recognized what part of the woods he was in, not that far from his village. Then he looked back to the river and the shore, and found himself screaming again.

There, half lying in the ground, half on the water, was his _human body_. Now, officially, nothing made any sense. Toru stumbled to the unconscious.... corpse? Was his body death? He didn’t dare to touch it, confused and scared. It was covered in bruises and it looked so pale, clothes ripped in multiple parts. He felt the panic raise for a third time, but then saw the chest of his human body move. Rise and fall. He let out the breath he was holding.

‘ _So it is alive… I’m not sure how that works, but that’s one good thing at least._ ’ He looked around then back at his sleeping body, unsure. ‘ _But how do i get it back? Why and how did I get out of it in the first place?’_

He thought back to the legends and stories the elders told in his village, but none of them ever spoke of something like this. Was this some joke or punishment from the gods? Or was it some freaky nightmare? Maybe he was just dead. Maybe he has died and this was just some afterlife hallucination. Was that how it worked?

The ears atop his head perked up when they caught the sound of steps getting near. 

“I think I saw something over there!”

‘ _That voice!_ ’ Toru turned towards the approaching people. Just as he thought, they were wearing the characteristic teal clothes of his village. _‘Shigeru-chan!_ ’ He recognized the teen, a close friend of his. He was with another teen with shaved hair, who upon seeing Toru, took hold of Shigeru’s arm to stop him.

“Watch out, there’s a wolf there!”

Both boys stopped and raised their bows, taking an arrow from their quivers. Shigeru looked extremely pissed as he shouted. “Get away from him, you beast!” His eyes looked over the limp body on the shore. “Oikawa-san!”

“Is he alive?”

Toru felt dread sink inside him. He took a few steps back, lowering his head. ‘ _Of course they don’t know it’s me!_ ’ 

“Shigeru, Shinji, wait!” He tried to say, but the boys just heard a strange, loud bark.

“What the hell was that sound?” The shaved boy asked out loud. “Wolves don’t do that!”

“Just what we needed, a damn youkai roaming around.”

‘ _Youkai? No, that’s-’_

An arrow landed near his feat, making him jump backwards and losing his trail of thought. Panicking, he looked to his friends, but just found hostility in their eyes. There was no way to make them know. He couldn’t do anything with his body either. It was either running away or dying by an arrow.

As he saw Shigeru preparing his bow again, Toru casted a last glance towards his human body. He needed answers, but for now he had to stay alive to get them. He turned around and ran, almost tripping with his own long legs. He could hear the teens shout out something, but ignored it in favor of disappearing into the woods. 

‘ _Hopefully they will take care of my body until i find out how to get it back._ ’

Toru gritted his teeth. 

_If i can survive like this._ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks so much for reading!  
> I've been working on this idea for a month, drawing characters and drafting the whole plot.  
> I'm a sucker for animal stories, so i'm really hyped to continue this one.  
> As the tags say, Oikawa turned into a maned wolf, or as they are known in Latin America, an Aguará Guazú! The name of the species won't be mentioned in the story tho.  
> Feel free to leave a comment, i would love to hear your thoughts and reactions to this first chapter!  
> Next chapter, Iwaizumi makes his appearence!
> 
> I'll also leave here links to Oikawa's Aguará Guazú design:  
> [Aguará Guazú!Toru](https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPypBUpNod/)


	2. Don't stop running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Toru tries and fails to hunt and butts heads with a wolf

After putting as much distance between himself and his village as he could, Toru collapsed on the ground, panting from running so much. He could feel the adrenaline going down as he regained his breath. He felt so tired already, and he knew that he couldn’t stop permanently, since his people back home would be looking for him soon. The risk of more predators attacking was too high now.

‘ _ I’ll get a day’s head start at least… _ ’ Toru raised his head to look around. One good thing was that he knew this woods pretty well, even from this new perspective. But as his heartbeat calmed down, he was hit with a sudden flood of smells and noises. A whine escaped his throat at the overflow of his new senses, dropping his head and trying to cover it with his front legs. It was overwhelming. 

He had to stay still for long minutes until he started to get used to it, identifying the source of most of them. The flapping of wings, the noise of branches moved by the wind, the water running in the distance, the scent of so many plants and animals, the smell of wet land. It was all familiar, but new at the same time. Toru lifted his head again, ears flicking. He sniffed cautiously, then took a deep breath to fill his lungs with fresh air.  _ ‘It's okay. I’m okay.’  _ He told himself.  _ ‘I can get used to this.’ _

He stood up and made up his mind. He couldn’t let these new changes stop him, he had to think about where to go now. 

But then his stomach decided to growl 

_ ‘First things first. Food. Let’s try and hunt.’ _

Which was obviously easier said than done. He could still track animals, and his new nose was very helpful. But without traps or weapons, he wasn’t sure how to catch them. Oh how he missed his hands already. 

_ ‘Think! Wolves and foxes do this all the time! I just have to be sneaky.’ _

__ But as soon as he spotted a rabbit or some other little animal, he accidentally stepped on something, or they sniffed him and managed to hide away. He wasn’t even able to start running after them. He tripped because of his stupid long legs.  _ Twice _ . 

_ ‘How am i supposed to find out what happened if i can’t even hunt?!’ _

He was feeling so very frustrated after hours of failing. He was tired, hungry and losing his patience. And he was still worried about being followed by his people.

Toru sniffed the air in the hopes of catching some smell, any trace of  _ something _ . The sun was starting to hide, and the animals were going to get in their hideouts to sleep soon.  _ ‘I wonder if i can eat anything else…’  _

__ He didn’t try to search for berries or other fruits. Could he eat them? He didn’t know what he was, but he looked like a predator, so he guessed he should eat meat. He could try going to the river, but fishing sounded a lot harder than hunting, and he was frustrated enough for the day. 

After trying hunting one last time, he gave up and searched for fruits. He walked around until he spotted a tree with little orange fruits, that upon closer inspection turned out to be a Kinkan tree. 

_ 'At least this long legs are useful for something.' _ Toru thought as he raised himself in his hind legs, supporting himself in the trunk of the tree. Luckily it wasn't a very tall plant, so he easily managed to bite the little fruits and pluck them from the branches. The skin was sweet, but the inside... not so much. He grimaced at the taste, but kept eating. He would need the energy for later.

Toru ate more than twenty fruits, they were too small to fill him easily. It was already dark when he considered himself satisfied. And since the fruit didn't upset his stomach, he guessed it was safe to say that he could eat them.

Anxiety settled inside him when he started to walk around the now obscure woods. His new eyes did work better in the dark, and the moon was bright enough, but that didn't make him any less nervous.  _ 'I need a place to hide so i can sleep. Or at least try.' _

It took some time, and multiple stumblings with roots and rocks, but he finally walked upon a fallen tree. The trunk was hollow, and empty of any other animals. It wasn't very big, but wide enough for his body to fit inside. 

Hiding accomplished. Now, sleeping was a whole new issue. His ears wouldn't stop flickering, catching every sound in the quiet of the night, settings off every nerve in his body. His mind went to all the possibilities: Bears? Wolves? Humans?

Most of them were probably just the wind or some random bird, but even that logic didn't help him. He was so on edge that he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes, afraid that something would attack him out of nowhere. 

It was a first, being scared of the dark like this. Even when he was a kid he loved the night, because then he got to look at the stars. The elders always told stories about them, about the shapes they formed and how they got there. 

Toru lifted his head to look up at the sky, to catch a glimpse of the familiar little lights through the branches. It was the same sky that he watched in his village, but it felt so different. The woods were so big and cold, filled with dangers that, in any other day, he wouldn't be afraid of. But now they felt more threatening than ever, all by himself in the forest.

Resting his head on his front paws, he forced himself to rest. Missing his home was not going to help him now. He needed all the energy he could gather to keep himself moving and alive. But even when he tried to ignore the noises, it still took him hours to fall into a restless sleep.

.

.

.

_ “Toru!” _

_ He opened his eyes at hearing his name, blinking as the sunlight blinded him. He raised his hand to cover the sun and see who was calling him. An angry woman was looking down at him, her hands on her hips.  _

_ “How many times have i told you to not fall asleep outside?” _

_ “Sorry mom.” He said with a smile, getting up from the ground. “I just wanted to look at the stars.” _

_ His mother sighed. “You always want to look at the stars. You are going to get sick if you keep staying out all night.” _

_ “It’s still warm these days, though.” He argued. _

_ “You do it even in winter, don’t try to fool me.” She said, raising an eyebrow at him. Toru shrugged with a sheepish smile, not able to deny that.  _

_ “Guilty.” That got a chuckle out of his mom.  _

_ “Come on.” She patted his arm and started walking. “Yahaba needs your help with the traps. You can eat after that” _

_ Nodding, Toru followed after her. It was early, but the village was already fully active. Some were already out hunting, fishing or just patrolling. It took them just a few minutes to reach the teen, who was waiting at the edge of the village. _

_ “Shigeru! Sorry for keeping you waiting.” Toru called out to him. “I overslept again.” He cocked his head to the side and scratched his neck. _

_ “You shouldn’t stay up so late, Oikawa-san.” The teen said, slightly worried but smiling back.  _

_ “Not even tiredness can keep me away from the sky!”  _

_ His mother sighed at his silliness. “Stop that and go work, boys.” She pushed both of them forward.  _

_ “Yes, yes. You don't have to treat us like children, mom.” _

_ “Then stop acting like one.” _

_ Both boys chuckled and went inside the forest, following the familiar path they always took to each of their traps.  _

_ “Oikawa-san?”  _

_ “Yes, Shigeru?” Toru replied, not looking up from the footprints they had found near one of them. The trap was empty, but some animal had been near it. Maybe they had learned to avoid it? They would have to move it to another section of the forest if that was the case. _

_ “Why do you like the stars so much?” _

_ A bit surprised by the question, he pondered on it. “Mmm… Well, all the stories the elders share with us, mostly. They always told us how some gods live in the sky, and thinking about that is very interesting, don’t you think?” _

_ Yahaba looked up at the clouds. “I guess. But why do you look at them all the time?” _

_ Toru smiled to himself. “I just wonder if I'd be able to catch a glimpse of one of the gods. Who knows what they are up to, up there.” He finally looked at the teen, who was staring at him slightly confused. Toru laughed at his expression. “It’s just things i like to think about, Shigeru. Life is pretty bland, and those thoughts entertain me.” _

_ Yahaba hummed, considering the words of the older boy.  _

_ “But anyway!” Toru got up. “We’re finished, so let’s go back. I’m starving!” _

_ The teen chuckled. “You wouldn’t be if you woke up in time and ate before leaving.” _

_ “Don’t go against me, Shigeru!” _

.

.

.

Toru woke up to the singing of birds. The few hours of sleep he got weren’t enough. Groaning, he tried to cover his face with a hand, but then he was reminded of his current condition when he felt a paw hitting his muzzle. 

Memories from the day before came back. He opened his eyes to look at himself, confirming that the weird incident that had turned him into an animal hadn’t been a dream. But he had dreamt about his life at the village, instead. The ears atop his head bowed at the thought of his mother. She must be so worried, having to look after his unconscious human body, without knowing why her son wouldn’t wake up. 

What would the village do to his body if he took too long? Would they still take care of it? He couldn’t imagine any of them willingly killing it if there was the slight chance of him waking up. But that led him to another question, how long would his body hold on like that? Did he have limited time to find a solution? Was there even one? Maybe he was wrong and nothing would be able to reverse what happened. Maybe he was destined to stay as an animal until some way or another he ended up dying. 

**_‘Stop.’_ **

**** Overthinking would lead him nowhere. He had to stay focused. He had to keep the hope that he was going to find a way to go back home. 

_ ‘Just stay alive, and search.’  _ He nodded to himself. Then his ears flopped down again.  _ ‘But where do i even start searching?’  _ A new wave of questions. He really needed to think hard about this and set a course. Just keeping distance between himself and his village wouldn’t do it. Was there anybody who could help him?

While pondering all that, he wasn’t paying much attention to his surroundings. He was still lying inside the hollow trunk after all. So he was not prepared for when something came barreling and collided with him. 

Toru yelped at the impact. His body was pushed forward, deeper into the trunk, and then something was on top of him. His ears quickly catched growling and when he opened his eyes, he found a big, dark wolf. The canine in question had his head -something in his head told him that it was a male, somehow- turned towards the entrance of the trunk, breath labored and ears tensed up. It was obvious that he was hiding from something, and that he had been running for a while.

_ ‘What can make a wolf act like this?’ _

His first thought was a bear, which wasn’t really something he wanted to face. There weren’t a lot of predators that would just attack wolves though. 

Toru tried to move and get out from under the wolf, but the animal growled at him, making him tense up and look up. Two green eyes seemed to frown at him for a second, before their attention went back to the exterior. At least it wasn’t trying to kill him.  _ ‘For now.’ _ His unhelpful mind added. He considered trying to get the animal off him, he was taller after all. But a glance at his skinny legs made him change his mind. No way they were going to be enough to push the wolf away.

Suddenly, his own ears perked up. Steps, and they were getting near. The wolf lowered his body, squeezing Toru against the ground, who tried to stop himself from fidgeting. While he didn’t want to come face to face with whatever had scared the canine, being under a wolf wasn’t much better. 

Something walked in front of the entrance, and Toru recognized it. Human legs! By the sounds of steps, there was more than only one, too. Were they people from his village? Had they come this far already?

He couldn’t help the fidgeting this time, a ball of nerves making its rightful place on his stomach. A whine came out of his muzzle at the thought of being caught.

“Shut up!” A voice whispered angrily above him. 

Toru blinked.  _ ‘What?’ _

__ He looked up. The wolf was staring at him again, showing his fangs. But he couldn't focus on that, because  _ had the wolf just talked to him?  _

_ ‘Wait. I can understand animals? How did I not think of that!? Of course I can, I AM an animal now!’  _

__ The people outside started to walk around the trunk. Toru gritted his teeth, hoping that they wouldn’t check inside it, that they would consider it small for a wolf to fit there. Which wasn’t far from the truth, giving how tightly pressed both animals were inside it. 

“I think it managed to run away, Wakatoshi-kun.” 

The new voice came from the outside, startling Toru. 

Someone hummed in reply. 

“Should we head back?” The first voice asked. “There’s no way that wolf is coming near our village again after the scare it got.” They -he? Toru thought that it sounded like a man- chuckled.

“We should keep searching in the area. It could come back with its pack.” Finally answered the other. The steps started to go away.

“You think so? It's weird for a wolf to go around all alone.”

“We can’t be sure that it’s alone. That’s why we have to find it, Satori.”

“Of course!”

Their conversation vanished little by little with the distance, along the sound of their steps. The wolf atop him still waited some minutes after they stopped hearing them to finally disentangle himself from Toru. It took them a few seconds given the small space, but the wolf managed to get out with a huff. Toru waited inside, not sure of how to proceed. Should he talk to it? Would that make the wolf attack him? 

“They aren’t here anymore, you can get out.” 

Toru almost jumped at hearing that. The wolf was sticking his head inside the trunk and looking at him. It sounded less angry now. Toru dragged himself out -damn you, long legs!-, and stood up once he was outside.

He heard a surprised noise coming from the wolf.

“ _ What _ are you?”

_ ‘Here we go again.’ _

The canine was staring at his body, especially his legs. He looked confused, not aggressive. 

“Stop staring like that.” He ended up saying. The wolf looked up at his face and tilted one ear to the side. Then it started to walk around him.

“You are not a wolf.” He stated. “Are you some kind of weird fox?”

“Rude!” He snapped, turning his head to the wolf, who was eyeing his ears. “I’m… i’m not sure what I am, alright?” 

“What?” The other asked incredulously. “How can you not know?”

“It’s a long story.” And he didn’t feel like telling it yet. He still needed to know if he could ask this wolf for help. “Now, about you invading my trunk-”

“I needed to hide from the hunters, I wasn't going to attack you. And you almost gave us both away with your whining.” The wolf raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t know animals could do that.

“You caught me by surprise!”

The wolf hummed, inspecting his back. Toru fidgeted in his place. He looked at the animal that was now facing away from him, focused by some reason on his hind legs. What was so interesting- 

He felt something cold and quickly realized what it was, jumping away with a yelp. “DON’T STICK YOUR NOSE THERE!”

“I was just sniffing, what’s with you?” He had the audacity of looking annoyed at Toru’s reaction. 

“Well, don’t! I don’t want your dumb muzzle near my tail!” He knew wolves and foxes did that normally, but he was not going to allow it! “If you feel the need to do that, do it with your pack, not me.”

At that, the wolf’s mood visibly darkened. His ears flopped, he furrowed his muzzle and his body tensed up. Toru blinked in confusion. The words of the hunters came back to him. Maybe this wolf didn’t have a pack after all?  _ ‘Did I struck a nerve?’ _ He wondered as the wolf walked away.

Wait, walked away?

"Wait!" Toru followed, easily reaching him in a few steps. The long legs weren't that bad. "I didn't mean to offend you." He tried.

"I don't care."

So now the wolf was all grumpy. Great. He needed to change the subject.

"Why were you running from those hunters?"

"It has nothing to do with you. Piss off." The wolf growled. 

Toru huffed. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to talk to him after all. He glanced at the canine, actually paying attention to his looks now. His fur was a lot darker than Toru's. His belly and neck were some shades lighter. The hair looked spiky, somehow. His left back leg was injured. Toru couldn't see clearly with all the fur, but he could make out what looked like teeth marks. That made him look to the wolf's face and find another injury, a gash on his muzzle. How did he not notice that before?

What had happened to this wolf?

"Stop staring, it's annoying." He spoke up, frowning at him.

Toru scoffed. "As if you have any right to say that."

He was ignored. "And stop following me."

"Ah, but i wanted to ask you something!"

"I don't care."

"Rude! And after I let you hide with me."

The wolf snorted. "Yeah, right. You  _ let _ me." He looked back at Toru with amusement. "Your scared face didn't say the same."

Toru looked to the side, embarrassed at being called out. "Well excuse me, i wasn't expecting anyone crashing into me like that."

"You are very deaf for someone with ears that big." 

The taller instinctively lowered his ears and frowned. "I'm still not used to them." He muttered. "But that's not the point!" He quickly recovered. "I told you i had a question! You could answer it to make it up for scaring me."

"If i hadn't shut you up, the hunters would have found us." He sounded exasperated, like he was speaking to a child. "I think that's enough to make up for you being deaf."

"I'm not deaf!"

"Could have fooled me."

Toru decided to ignore that. "Come on, it's one question!"

The wolf stopped walking to turn around and glare at him. "Stop being so annoying, for gods' sake!"

"If you weren't so hardheaded, i wouldn't have to." Then he registered the words. "Wait! You know about gods?"

The wolf groaned. "Everyone knows about the gods, what kind of stupid question is that?"

Toru blinked in surprise. "Even animals?"

The other squinted at him. "You are an animal."

"No!" He quickly said.

The wolf tilted his head. "No?"

"I mean, yes! I mean, I'm an animal  _ now! _ " The wolf continued to stare at him in confusion. Toru whined. "I'm human!" He finally said. 

The wolf stared at him with unimpressed eyes and stood up. "I'm leaving." And he started walking away.

"What? Why?" Toru asked, quickly following behind.

"I don't want to risk meeting those hunters again, we're still close to their territory." He explained. "And i don't want to be near a crazy weird fox."

Toru gasped with indignation. “I’m telling you i’m a human!”

The wolf ignored him in favor of speeding up his walking, trying to leave the other behind. Toru, not one to give up so easily, just kept jogging behind him. 

"Why are you still following me?!"

"Well i don't want to be caught by hunters either." Toru raised an eyebrow at the sudden anger.

"You can take another way, go away!”

"But i need help!" He whined. "I don't know where to go, or how to hunt!"

"And I told you I don't want you near me." The wolf grumbled. "And how come you don’t know how to hunt? You are not a cub. Even if you act like one."

"Rude!" 

The darker canine huffed and continued walking. "Leave me alone."

"Please help me!”

"You really are stubborn."

"And you are as hardheaded as a rock!" 

"Shut up!" Came out as an angry snarl.The wolf showed his fangs at him, making Toru take a few steps back on instinct. The tall canine looked around quickly, trying to find a good escape route, an automatic reaction to danger when he went out hunting and came across dangerous animals. They were in a more open area of the woods, fewer trees around that would allow a quick flight. From the look of the ground, lots of animals passed by this place. It would be the kind of place where Toru would install a trap. 

‘Wait a minute.’ As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he remembered the hunters. It was very probable that there were traps here. He looked back to the wolf to voice this, but saw him walking away again, taking advantage of Toru’s distracted state. “Wait!” He tried to warn him, but was just ignored. Toru gritted his teeth and went after him, inspecting the ground closely for any telltale of traps. Yes, the damn wolf wouldn’t listen to him, but he had kept Toru away from the hunters just now, even if it wasn’t intentional. “I said wait!”

The darker canine turned his head towards him without stopping. “If you don’t shut up I'm going to bite your-” He was cut out by his own surprised yelp when something wrapped around his hind leg, making him trip. The wolf quickly stood up to pull away, but that only managed to make the grip stronger and a strange rattling noise started. “Goddammit, why now?” He grumbled.

Toru was beside him in an instant. “Stay still.” He had to be quick. The noise was most likely a bag with rocks and nuts that worked as an alert for hunters, announcing that something had fallen into their trap.

“And let the hunters get me?” He growled, still pulling his leg.

“I can take it off, but stop pulling!” The taller snapped. He wanted to help the wolf, but gods, he was stubborn. “Just stop moving!” The wolf stared at him, suspicious, making Toru scoff. “Would you prefer if I left you here so the hunters can find you? Because that noise is currently alerting them!”

That made the other huff, but finally stood still. Toru looked at the rope that was holding the wolf’s leg. Without his hands, his teeth would have to do, he supposed. Careful as to not bite into the flesh, Toru managed to get his fangs between the rope and the fur, and started to tug to down slowly. His ears perked up when he heard the rustle of leaves, but didn’t risk a glance, focused on getting the damn rope out. 

“I can see them.” Alerted the wolf, tensing up. “Get out of here.” But Toru ignored him. “Run, you idiot!”

The taller growled in frustration. He could hear the steps getting closer. Just a last tug!

“Would you look at that, there’s another one!” It was the same energetic voice from before. 

“That’s not a wolf.” Said the stoic one, and in that moment Toru finally got the rope out. 

“ **Run!** ” He yelled, waiting for the wolf to stand up. They both hurried away, not daring to look back, so they didn't notice the startled looks on the hunter’s faces that Toru’s loud bark had caused. 

.

“I think we are far enough.” Announced the wolf, to which Toru collapsed on the ground. They had run a very long distance, and his legs felt on fire. The canine beside him didn’t look much better, panting heavily to gain back his breath. 

_ ‘I’m getting tired of all this running away.’  _ He felt his stomach growling at him, but couldn’t gather the energy to get up yet. He wanted to rest for at least an hour in peace. 

__ “Hey, you okay?” 

Toru turned his head towards the wolf. “Do i look okay?” He grumbled, making the other snort.

__ “Catch your breath, we got away.” He sniffed at his formerly trapped leg, searching for damage. Upon finding nothing, he looked at Toru. “Thanks.”

“Consider it payback for the trunk thing.” He replied, without energy to be snarky. Damn was he tired. The lack of good sleep from the night before and the hunger was getting to him. 

The wolf stared at him a bit longer then got up. Looking around, he found some big bushes just a few meters away. “Hey, get up.”

“No.” Toru whined.

The wolf sighed and nudged his side with a paw. “Go hide there, you are out in the open. You can rest there.” 

Toru looked at where the other pointed with his muzzle. He was so tired but the wolf had a point. He forced himself to stand up with a grumble and went to the bushes, falling between them in a second. They blocked most of the light, so that was nice. He heard steps, probably the wolf’s, going away, but he had no energy to care. And the canine had made clear that he didn’t want nothing to do with him.

‘Stubborn as a rock.’ Was his last thought before drifting off.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Thanks a lot for those who left kudos and comments on the first chapter!  
> This one took longer than i would've liked, but it's here finally :D  
> Hope you like this chapter as well, i apoligize if there's any typo, feel free to let me know on the comments so i can fix it.
> 
> I'll leave Iwaizumi's design linked here!
> 
> [Wolf!Iwa](https://www.instagram.com/p/CEnAXd8gcoY/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet)


	3. Deal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for taking so long qwq!  
> Irl stuff and writer's block kept me from finishing this sooner, i'm really sorry  
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter and that it was worth the wait!

_ “Why do the gods live up there?” The little kid asked, pointing at the sky. The elder sitting beside him hummed. _

_ “So they can look over all the land. They see everything that happens down here.” They explained. _

_ The child frowned in thought, as if something about that bothered him. “But don’t they feel lonely?” He finally said, a sad glimpse on his eyes. The elder was surprised by that thought, smiling at seeing the boy’s worry for those mythical beings that looked after them. _

_ “I’m sure they keep each other company, Toru.” They replied. “And they often come down and walk among us, too. We aren’t able to notice, but they are out there.” _ _   
_ _ That last prospect seemed to fill the boy with curiosity and excitement. “So we can come across any of them?” _ _   
_ __ “Of course! Maybe you can even talk to them someday, no one knows what will happen after all.”

_ Toru smiled and looked at the stars, a thousand possibilities for the future dancing in his head. _

__ What an ironic memory to dream about.

That was Toru’s first thought upon waking up, blinking at the light of the afternoon sky. His body felt a lot more rested after that nap, but the daylight was not going to last much longer now. His empty stomach growled at him to search for food. Without standing up, Toru sniffed the air, catching a scent that seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite point it out. The smell was accompanied by the sound of steps, and soon enough, something was dropped in front of him as a shadow covered his face. 

Toru looked up to find the wolf from before. The fur around his muzzle looked wet and sticky, and he was carrying that strong smell too. The wolf tilted his head.

"What are you staring at?" He nudged whatever he had brought closer to the other with a paw. "Eat."

Confused, the taller looked down. It took him a few seconds to recognize the back legs and part of the body of what was once, probably, a rabbit. 

Surprised by the sudden offering, Toru sent a questioning look to the wolf. The canine flicked his tail in slight annoyance.

"What?"

"Why did you… hunt for me?" He asked, one ear flopping down. 

"I'm just returning the favor from earlier." The wolf replied, avoiding his eyes. "It's just half of the hunt, but it will do for now."

Toru was taken aback by that. So the grumpy wolf wasn't bad after all. Any other normal day, he would take such an opportunity to joke around, but the last two days had been anything but normal. So he decided to keep quiet and look at the offered prey, sniffing at it.

_ 'So it was blood _ .' Toru's muzzle wrinkled. It wasn't the first time he saw blood, of course, but the smell was way stronger now. He eyed the death animal, the thought of eating it raw making him feel sick. But he really needed to eat, if his angry stomach was something to go by. Using one of his paws to hold down the body, he sunk his fangs and ripped a piece from it. He chewed, unable to keep himself from grimacing at the taste of the blood. 

“What’s with that face?” The wolf sounded amused, to which Toru just sent him an annoyed look while swallowing. “It’s like you never ate a rabbit before.” He continued, sitting down.

“I have, just not like this.” The flavor of the meat itself wasn’t terrible -he guessed having different taste buds had something to do with that-, but the blood was sticky and gross. 

“What do you mean ‘not like this’?”

“Humans don’t eat raw meat, Iwa-chan.”

The wolf’s ears perked up and he frowned. “Who?”

“Oh, it’s a nickname I came up with just now.” He took another bite before continuing. “You know, since you are stubborn as a rock.”

“And why did you think there was any need to give me a name?” The wolf was starting to look very irritated at the mere idea. “You could have asked me instead.”

At that, Toru looked up. “Then what is it?”

“Hajime.”

The taller canine hummed for a moment, pensive. “I think Iwa-chan suits you better.”

The wolf sighed. “I really don’t understand how your head works. Maybe it’s just the hunger making you say dumb stuff.”

“Hey!” 

“Now shut up and eat. We don’t want the smell to attract others.” He instructed, looking around them to look out for said unwanted visitors. 

They stayed quiet while Toru finished the rest of the rabbit. He had to keep his mind from thinking too hard about it, otherwise he would have puked everything. He was thankful that his new body was prepared for eating that sort of things, so at least he didn't need to worry about an upset stomach.

As soon as he was done, the wolf stood up and started to walk away. Toru watched him go, still sitting down on the bushes. He figured the other didn't have much reason to stay around him after paying his 'debt'. The taller canine looked at the bones and blood that was left on the ground, feeling his fur sticky. 

_ 'This is so disgusting…' _

"Hey!" 

Toru's head shot up. The wolf was looking at him from some meters away.

"Come on, we have to move while there's light." When Toru didn't move, he added. "Are you really deaf?"

The taller frowned, but stood up and hurried to get beside the wolf. "Stop calling me that!"

"You are the one with useless big ears."

"You are so mean, Iwa-chan."

"Don't call me that, or i'll change my mind about bringing you with me." Hajime warned, as he started to walk again, this time the other following close.

"Where are we going?" Toru questioned, eyes stuck to the back of the wolf's head.

"We're going to the closest river." He answered, and the conversation ended. 

They walked for a while, and the whole time Toru tried to make sense of the sudden change of attitude in the wolf. Making sure he could rest, then bringing him food and now telling him to tag along? He wasn't complaining but it was a weird turn of events.

_ 'Well, everything has been weird. _ ' He guessed to himself. 

They finally made it to a river, where Toru sunk his body to clean his fur of all the blood. 

"Finally! That was so gross." 

"You really say strange things." Hajime looked at him, water dripping from his muzzle. He shaked his head to get rid of the water, then sat down and started to scratch his ear with one of his hind legs. “Like you being human.”

Toru scoffed. “I am a human!”

“Really?” The wolf lowered his leg to stare at the other, but Toru was surprised when he didn’t find a mocking expression. Hajime looked serious. “Are you really a human?”

The taller canine fidgeted in his place, lowering his eyes to the water and frowning at his own reflection. "Was. I'm not sure." 

"I would say that's impossible, but i have never seen an animal like you." Hajime said. "And you act really weird."

"Hey!" Toru looked up, insulted.

Ignoring him, the wolf laid down on the ground. “Tell me what happened.”

Toru’s ears perked up. “Uh?”

“Unless you are just making it all up.” He added, raising an eyebrow.

“No!” The taller replied quickly. “I just- i’m surprised you asked.” He admitted, getting out of the water to sit beside the wolf, who looked at him expectantly. 

Taking a deep breath, Toru related how he fell to the river after helping the fox, almost drowned and then woke up like that. It was, surprisingly, a very short story, even if it had felt like a long suffering to him. And he felt slightly better after unpacking all of it, which he didn’t expect.

When he finished, he waited for the wolf to process his words.

"That's very strange,” he started, “but it sounds like something the gods or some spirit would do. No wonder you suck at paying attention." 

_ 'Why the need to throw an insult whenever he can?'  _ Toru thought, but didn't point it out loud. "So do you know anything that could help me?" He asked, voice hopeful. 

He shaked his head. "Nothing about this, not really." Toru groaned. "But from what you told me, i think your current concern should be learning to hunt."

Toru groaned at being reminded. "But it's so hard! I think i will stick with eating fruit…"

"I don't think that will be enough for your body.” Hajime tilted his head. “Wolves can eat some fruit too, but we can’t live just with that.”

“I guess you're right.” Toru sulked, lowering his head until it was hidden between his front legs. “Not having hands sucks. Everything sucks.”

“Not very optimistic, are you?”

“Are you seriously asking me that? I have to relearn how to hunt from scratch to not die from starvation,  **and** hide from my friends who are hunting me. And i still don’t know what i should do.”

Hajime hummed. 

Silence returned for some minutes, both canines deep in thought. Toru was trying to come up with ways to successfully hunt something, trying to remember all the times he had seen animals hunting. He knew the basics, not standing in favor of the wind, not making too many sounds, keeping one’s body hidden. He knew all that, but this new body made the last two extremely difficult. He still hadn’t got used to the long limbs, and he wasn’t completely self aware of his size to know if he was completely covered.

_ ‘This really, really sucks.’ _

__ “I could teach you.” 

Toru lifted his head so quickly his neck could have been in danger of snapping. “What?”

“To hunt. You need help with that, right?”

The taller stared at the wolf. “Who are you and what happened to grumpy Iwa-chan?”

The wolf showed his fangs, growling. ”I can take the offer back.”

“No, no! I’m joking!” He backtracked quickly. “I… I could really use the help.” He added some seconds later. 

If he was still in his village, still human, he wouldn’t ask for help with anything, at least not for a long time. He liked to figure things out on his own, and not depend on others. A part of him knew that it wasn’t the smartest way to do things, but he was, as his mother would say, too stubborn for his own good.

But he really was surprised at the sudden offer. The entire new attitude the wolf had been showing in the last hours was strange to say the least. He didn’t understand why, and it picked his curiosity.

He didn’t have time to ask before Hajime was speaking up again.

“We have to keep moving in case your people are still following you, and I want to get more distance from those other hunters.” He explained, looking to the direction they had been walking from. “I think our best option is going to where the sun rises. There’s fewer human settlements in that direction. We should be safer, and I can teach you how to hunt on the way.” He looked back at Toru, waiting for an answer.

“Um… all right. But why the sudden helpfulness?” One of his ears flopped as he tilted his head. “You weren’t so eager to be near me before.”

The wolf sighed, looking to the side.

“Two wolves are better than one.” He said. “Well, i’m not sure you are a wolf, but it still counts. If you learn how to hunt, we have better chances at getting food.” Hajime stayed quiet for a while, and Toru thought that was it, but then the wolf turned his eyes towards him. “And you saved me before. You could have just run away, leave me to the hunters. But you risked yourself trying to save me, even after I treated you, well, in a bad way.”

“You were very mean, yeah.” Toru smirked, his confidence returning, and earning an annoyed huff.

“I’m not just helping you for nothing, though. You better keep us away from those human tramps and any place you think may be dangerous. Put your dumb human brain to use.” 

“Ah, there’s the grumpy and mean Iwa-chan.” Toru ignored the growl. “But that’s fair, i can do that.” Then, a small smile appeared on his muzzle. “Thank you. For believing me, and for this. I really don’t know what to do but… not being alone is reassuring.”

“We may find some answers to your problem in the way. But staying alive should be your priority right now.” 

“Yeah, i know.” His two ears flopped, thinking about it. Of course it wouldn’t be suddenly easy because he wasn’t alone anymore, but it was better than his former situation, he guessed.

“Let’s search for a place to sleep now.” The wolf interrupted his train of thought. “It’s getting dark.” He started to walk away, hearing the step of Toru following behind him. 

The two canines left the river behind, the sun disappearing in the horizon, and Toru felt a little less scared of the dark this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be longer, but i wanted to post something before more time passed. So it's basically half of what the original chapter was going to tell.  
> I'll try to have the other half much sooner 


	4. I'll make a wolf out of you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru embarasses himself while learning how to hunt

"When are we going to hunt?"

The wolf looked at the sky, where the sun was starting to hide.

"Soon."

They had been walking since waking up, hours ago, staying close to the river but hidden in the trees. Hajime hadn't said much, just that it was too early to worry about food. Toru's stomach wanted to disagree, but he stayed quiet. He wasn't the animal since birth between the two.

He used the quiet time to gather their surroundings. They were getting farther and farther from the parts of the forest that were familiar to him. Soon, in one or two days, everything was going to be new, and it made him feel nervous. He hoped to learn a few survival tricks before that.

A breeze flew by, rustling his fur and the leaves in the ground. They made crispy sounds as the two canines stepped on them, serving as another part of the background noise. Toru looked down at them, frowning. That was another thing to worry about, the soon to be here winter. How was he going to survive the cold? He couldn't lit a fire. Was his new fur coat going to be enough? Were they going to find enough food? Wolves didn't hoard prey, did they? And what about-

_ Thud! _

"Ow!" Toru whined after colliding head first with a tree. He lowered his head to rub a paw over his muzzle.

"Eyes up, idiot." Toru looked up to see the wolf staring at him, head poking out from behind the very same tree he collided with. 

"You could have warned me." He frowned towards the wolf.

"That will teach you to pay attention. I'm not going to treat you like a pup." He tilted his head. “Even if you are almost as hopeless as one.”

“Any chance you will stop being mean to me, Iwa-chan?”

“Start by looking where you are going, then you can worry about me being mean.” Hajime looked up, ignoring Toru’s huff of annoyance. 

The sky was starting to get dark, the sun halfway swallowed by the horizon. One of his ears flicked at the sound of branches shaking from some bird flying off. 

“Come on, time to search.” He called, not bothering with looking back.

“Search?” 

“For prey. We hunt at dusk.”

“Oh.” Came the short answer, as Toru looked up at the sky. He never thought about that possibility. He would have been worried about searching for animals in the dark if he still had his human eyes. But that was an advantage of his new body.  _ Even if it doesn’t make up for the lack of hands.  _ He thought bitterly. 

Their pace slowed down considerably, Hajime stopping from time to time to listen and sniff the air and the ground. Toru couldn’t point out what the wolf was following, since every time he tried to focus on his senses, it became overwhelming. As much as he hated it, he would have to leave it to his companion to track anything. 

Hajime’s head rose up suddenly, startling the taller. His eyes were focused to their left, where Toru found the reason. A hare, partly hidden by the roots of a tree. It stayed still, its body shaking from its quick breathing, ears perked up. Toru wasn’t sure if the little animal already knew of their presence, since the wolf wasn’t making any effort to be sneaky. He was watching the hare, what was going on his head beyond Toru’s knowledge. 

“We have to corner it from both sides. Don’t let it turn.” He said eventually, eyes still ahead. 

The taller canine blinked at the instructions, but couldn’t question anything because, without warning, Hajime started to advance, pace quickening at every step. Toru saw the hare turn its head to look at them and a second after, it started running away. A snarl from the wolf snapped Toru out of his surprise, prompting him to move. The little rodent tried to make fast turns to get both canines off its back, all the time jumping over roots and branches. Hajime was right behind it, dodging the same obstacles, growling and trying to bite down on the hare’s flesh. Toru tried to reach both of them, but he was also trying to not stumble on anything. He was scared of going too fast, and at the same time he was hyper aware of everything -the chase, the hare, the wolf, the ground, the noises-. 

It wasn't a big surprise when one of his legs got caught on a root and he went head first to the ground. Grumbling at his clumsiness, he opened his eyes to catch the end of the chase.

Without someone blocking its way, the hare managed to turn away from Hajime and increase the distance between them. The wolf followed it for a few seconds but ultimately gave up, slowing up his pace until stopping. Breathing heavily from the run, he turned around to search for Toru.

The taller canine gulped, unsure of how the other would react.  _ I messed up and made us lose the prey. He's gonna bite my head off. _ He thought nervously, not even daring to stand up as the wolf walked back to him.

"Hey! What happened just now?" He asked when he reached the fallen canine.

"I… i tripped." Toru said, looking away in embarrassment. He felt the wolf get closer and start sniffing along his back, nudging him to stand up with his muzzle.

"Did you hurt yourself?" 

“Uh, no… i don’t think so.” Confused, he gets up, proving that all of his four legs work. Hajime seems satisfied with that. "Um, sorry about the hare."

"Forget about it, it could have escaped even if you hadn't fallen." 

Toru was surprised at the lack of anger, he was expecting a lot more growling and displays of fangs.  _ Maybe the hunger is keeping him calm?  _ He watched as Hajime started to look for scent that could lead them to more animals, not wasting time in lamenting the lost hare.  _ Guess is the most efficient way to hunt.  _

“Come on.” The wolf announced, already walking away. 

Letting out a sigh, Toru followed, already knowing this was going to be a long night. 

.

.

.

What followed was a complete failure of a hunting night. Finding prey was difficult on its own, but actually catching it? Toru was about to scream. 

They had come across a lonely male deer after the hare. They spent minutes just observing it and walking around it. Again, the wolf found no interest in explaining what exactly they were supposed to do, so Toru was at a loss as to why they didn’t try to attack it, given that the deer didn’t care to run away. In the end Hajime seemed to get tired of just growling and barking at the animal, letting out a ‘let’s go’ and leaving. Again, no explanation or reasons. 

They tried to chase a pheasant, but to Toru’s utter embarrassment, the bird managed to sneak around his stupidly long legs and get away. That ended with Hajime pretty much toppling the taller when he couldn’t stop in time and they inevitably crashed. 

And he fell down numerous times, again.

After hours of nothing accomplished, Toru was tired and irritated, with the whole situation and with himself.

“This is useless.” 

“Uh?”

Hajime turned around to see the taller canine slump against a tree trunk, frustration evident in his face.

“I can’t do this, I keep messing up every time.” He grumbled. 

“It’s your first night hunting, what did you expect?” Hajime arched an eyebrow, visibly unimpressed. “You just have to learn.”

“Oh like it’s easy. You don’t even stop to actually explain anything to me, i keep trying to guess what I have to do!” He stood up as his voice raised in volume, any caution of angering the wolf forgotten. 

“I can’t exactly give you a complete lesson if the prey is right in front of us, dumbass.” Hajime frowned, tail flicking behind him. 

“How do you expect me to learn how to hunt then? I thought that was what we were doing?” Toru scoffed. 

“We are also hunting so we don’t starve, you idiot!” 

By that point they were both growling at each other, teeth showing and furrowed snouts. Toru wasn’t even afraid, his frustration overpowering any other emotion. The two canines stared at each other for long seconds, neither of them backing down. 

Finally, the wolf spoke up, voice even but without relaxing his posture.

“Are you going to let me talk now?” 

Toru narrowed his eyes at him, but he hid his fangs and lowered his ears. Hajime sighed, tension gone from his body.

“I was going to answer your questions  _ after  _ we hunted.” He explained. “But we don’t seem to be having a lot of luck right now, so…”

“Lack of luck, or just me messing it up?” The taller mumbled sitting down.

“You are not the only one hunting, you know? I let those prey get away too, and not by choice.” He pointed out. “Hunts don’t go well most of the time.”

Toru hummed. “What about the deer? It didn’t run away, but you made us leave it alone.” 

“Try biting a deer that’s ready to impale you with its antlers.” The wolf sat down, and lifted a hind leg to scratch behind his ear. “There were more chances of us ending death than the deer. The idea is to make them panic so they run and eventually trip, at least with bigger prey.” Waiting for the other to process that, Hajime laid down on the ground. “Now, with smaller animals it’s just a matter of luck, mostly. Even if we were both flanking one, they could find a chance to get away.”

Toru nodded, looking down at his paws while remembering all the failed hunts with all that in mind. Some of them made more sense now, especially the deer -he tried to not picture a vivid image of being murdered by the antlers-. But that still left the detail of his incapability to handle his new senses while hunting. What good was to know how to hunt if just sniffing made him dizzy? 

_ I’m really hopeless, aren’t i?  _ He thought grimly. 

He suddenly felt breathing on his face, so he looked up, just for his snout to knock into the wolf’s. Ears perking up, he leaned back to put space between them. “Uh, what are you-”

“I was calling you, but you weren’t paying attention.” He said. “As usual.” Hajime huffed. “Big eared dumbass.” He mumbled.

One of said big ears twitched in annoyance. 

“What had you so lost in thought, anyway?” 

Toru opened his mouth then closed it, not sure of how to explain it. It wouldn’t make much sense to the wolf, probably, who was born with all those senses. But maybe, just maybe, he would understand?  _ It wouldn’t hurt to try.  _ It almost made him laugh, revealing a vulnerability to someone he just met. “I just… I have trouble. Paying attention.”

“Don’t worry, i noticed.” 

“Not that!” He frowned. “When we were hunting, i… everything just felt overwhelming. I’m not used to being able to, to feel so much.” He grimaced. “I don’t know if i’m making sense.”

“No, i think i get it.” Hajime said. “It’s probably not as bad as what happens to you, but sometimes we can get confused with loud noises or strong smells. I think you just have to get used to the world, little by little.”

“Get used to the world?” Toru tilted his head in confusion. 

The wolf closed his eyes, frowning. He looked like he was thinking hard about an answer. “Mmm… I’m not sure how to explain it. But i don’t think it’s necessary.” He moved to sit down beside the taller canine. “Close your eyes.”

“Uh?”

“Close your eyes.” He repeated, annoyed. Not wanting to make the wolf angry, Toru complied. 

“Okay, eyes closed. Now what?”

“Just try to feel what’s around you. Use your ears and your nose.”

It sounded dumb, if Toru was being honest. What difference would it make doing this while sitting down? The problem was while hunting.

“I can hear you complaining in your head. Just do what i said.”

“Can you read minds, Iwa-chan?”

A growl promptly shut him down. 

_ Alright, alright. Just listen and smell. Listen and smell.  _ He repeated to himself. First he caught the scent of the wolf beside him, and as his ears focused on him, he could hear his breathing, and his heartbeats. Then he started to feel the things that were further away. He could hear the wind shaking the leaves and branches, the distant steps of animals and the flapping of wings. He could recognize the smells of the different creatures they had found through the night, and he found himself able to pinpoint the direction they came from. It was a lot to take in,

But then, little by little, it all began to form an image in his mind. It wasn’t like seeing with his eyes, it was a lot different. He couldn’t see the terrain, but he could feel where the creatures were, how far, if they had left a trail. He could find the direction of the river just by listening. All the noises and smells were making sense, if only a bit more. He could focus on something, while acknowledging the rest in the back of his mind.

After minutes in silence, Toru opened his eyes. He turned to the wolf, who was looking at him expectantly. 

“Let’s try again.” 

.

.

.

Hajime let him search for a trail this time. Lowering his head to the ground, he smelled until he felt a scent that instinctively said  _ prey.  _ They followed it until they reached three serows. Their size was pretty much the same as the canines’. The small horns wouldn’t hurt them, either. 

Toru looked at Hajime. The wolf stared at the potential prey, then nodded. 

The serows ran the instant they saw the predators appear, scared of the growls and barks. Making their way through the trees, their panicked minds just thinking about getting away.

The two canines followed right behind. Toru, somehow, got close enough to almost bite one of them, but even if he didn’t reach, it did the trick. The serow, trying to avoid him, turned away from its little pack. Ignoring the other two, they stalked the lonely one. And in a bad step, the serow’s speed was halted for a moment. It was enough for Hajime to quicken his pace and reach it, sinking his fangs on the creature. 

The animal trashed but couldn’t get the weight of the wolf off. Toru got to them a second after, witnessing how Hajime bit down on the serow’s snout, hindering its breathing.

Soon enough, it died. Not wasting a second, the wolf started to rip pieces of meat to devour. Toru hesitated, the idea of eating the animal like this still strange to him. But Hajime looked up from the prey, to him, and stared. Seeing how the taller canine wouldn’t move, he jumped over the body and towards him.

“It’s your hunt too.” He said, walking behind Toru to push him forward. “Eat.”

He looked back to the wolf, then to the prey. He had actually helped. He hadn’t messed up this time. Feeling another nudge, he finally walked forward to fill his stomach, a sense of pride sitting inside him at this accomplishment. 

The sun was starting to raise when they found a spot to sleep. 

“I feel so sticky.” Toru complained, grimacing at the blood staining his fur.

“You’ll get used to it.” Hajime replied, laying down.

“I hope not.” The other mumbled, imitating him.

“What? Already tired of being a big eared dumbass?”

“You do know i have a name, right?” The taller frowned, annoyed.

“Wouldn’t know. You never actually told me.” The wolf raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. 

Toru had the decency of looking ashamed, at least. Ears lowered, he looked away. “It may have slipped my mind… With everything else.” Clearing his throat, he turned to the wolf again. “It’s Oikawa Toru.”

“Uh?” Hajime raised his head at that. “Why do you have two names?”

_ Right. Animals don’t have surnames, right? _ Toru guessed. “No, no. My name is Toru. Oikawa is my family’s name.”

“Weird. So I just call you Toru.”

The taller looked shocked for a second, to the wolf’s confusion. “Well, no, it’s- We don’t really call each other by our names, unless we are, um, pretty close.”

Hajime tilted his head. “Why are you humans so complicated?”

“Hey, I don't criticize your way of living.”

The wolf huffed. “Whatever.” He laid his head in the ground again. “I have to call you Oikawa, then?”

Toru nodded.

“If it’s that important to you… It doesn’t make a difference to me.”

“Thanks.” He said, and at not receiving another reply, decided to sleep too. 

Toru thought about the long night, feeling the exhaustion in his bones. But his hunger was gone, for now at least, and he was a little more capable. He remembered the last hunt, and the pride he had felt came back to his chest.

A meter away from him, the wolf opened an eye as he heard the slight  _ thud thud  _ of the short tail of the taller wag against the ground. He was sure he wasn’t even aware of its movement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeyyyyyyyyy  
> I watched. SO MANY VIDEOS OF WOLVES HUNTING FOR THIS. And read too many websites to be as acuratte as possible :'D  
> I' m sorry got the time it took, but writing action is not my forte lol Hope it's good  
> Things should pick up with the plot from now on, with Toru's training started  
> See you all on the next chapter! Thanks a lot for the lovely comments <3


	5. In the tall grass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Toru thought the dreams had stopped

Hajime growled as droplets fell over him. Sending a glance to the canine at his side, who was shaking the water out of his fur, the wolf stepped away.

“Your insistence with keeping your fur clean is worrying.” 

“I’d say your lack of concern at having blood all over you is what’s worrying here.” Toru shot back, too busy making sure that he was fully clean to look at the other.

The wolf ignored that statement and continued his previous point. “Are you going to do this every time we hunt?”

"If there's any other way to clean myself, i'm listening."

"You have a tongue, first of all."

Toru looked at the wolf with a disgusted expression. "You are insane."

Hajime huffed. "You are aware that you get blood on your mouth while eating, right?"

"I try not to think about it." He whined. "I'm not used to it like you, so stop being rude about it, Iwa-chan."

"Do as you like. Just keep in mind that winter is days away and getting your fut wet is not a good idea."

Toru's ears dropped at the reminder. Any hope of solving this before winter were slim, basically none. The air was getting colder, and the trees were going to lose all their leaves in a few days. Winter was upon them and Toru was scared of it. His only choice was to trust that the wolf would get them both through the snow and the cold. 

Said wolf nudged him with his head, with enough force to almost make him trip.

"Don't get so down, we're going to be fine as long as we can find enough food."

"You sound confident." Toru said, regaining his balance. 

Hajime rolled his eyes. "It's not my first winter, Oikawa. Now come on, we need to move." He continued, pushing the other again. “Move your legs.”

"Stop! You don't need to push me, i'm going, i’m going!" He said, unable to help the slight amusement in his voice. 

The wolf moved in front of Toru, quickly gaining distance as he jogged away. “Try not to trip on the way!” 

“Oh, shut it!” He shouted back, running after Hajime.

The two canines moved across the length of the river, jumping over stones and splashing the water with their paws. Soon the wolf led them inside the woods, as the stream turned towards another direction. Toru kept a steady pace behind the other, ears perked up, hearing both his own and the wolf’s labored breath and the rush of the wind as they ran through the trees. The rush of adrenaline reminded him of the hunt, but this had a different energy. This wasn’t a chase, at least not for a prey. It almost reminded him of his first times visiting the forest, when he was younger and everything was new and exciting. Except now, he could almost feel every piece of the forest around him.

He just wanted to run more, to run faster. And his legs answered him, somehow getting on par with the wolf. Hajime looked at him, seeming surprised for a second that Toru was matching him on speed. But then he grinned, fangs showing off in a way that for once wasn’t threatening. As if taking this like a challenge, he sped up even more to leave the taller canine behind again. Sporting a grin of his own, Toru stubbornly went after him, staying close to his tail. 

The chase went on for more than an hour, the two animals had to take a break, laying down on the pile of leaves that covered the forest floor. They were panting from the effort, Toru more than the wolf, but he felt satisfied after being able to keep up that pace without tripping. They laid there for long minutes, catching their breaths. 

After watching leaves fall to the ground in little twirls, Toru tried to entertain himself by pestering the wolf. He raised his head from the ground to look at the other, who was laying down sideways beside him.

"Iwa-chan." He called.

The wolf huffed, already dreading answering. "What?"

"You said this wasn't your first winter, so how old are you?" 

Hajime hummed in though. "I've seen three winters in my life."

Toru blinked. "You are just three years old?" 

"If that's how humans call it." He replied, uninterested. 

"That's… weird to think about." By all means, he knew Hajime was an adult wolf, he had seen enough of them to know that. But the fact that he grew up so fast, compared to his own human age, it was… interesting to put it in one way. It made Toru think about how different humans were from the rest of the animals. 

"Everything you do is weird, so you know what it feels like to be me." Came the wolf's amused voice, pulling Toru back to reality.

"Hey!" 

"But why is it weird? You look as old as me." Hajime asked, tilting his head so he could look at the other. 

"Well, humans… mature much slower. It actually takes more than fourteen yea- winters! For us to be adults."

"More than fourteen?" Hajime repeated incredulously. "How do you keep your pups alive for so long?"

Toru bite back a snort when hearing the other refer to human babies as pups. "Keeping them from running off to the forest, i guess. I'm not an expert."

"You don’t have any pups of your own?" 

"Babies." He corrected. "And no, i don't."

"Considering you barely know how to take care of yourself, i'm not surprised."

"For your information, i'm a very skilled hunter among my people." Toru said, raising his head with pride. 

"I can't talk for human ways, but your skills now are… decent. They still could use more practice."

The taller lowered his head and ears. "I had this body for less than five days, have some mercy, Iwa-chan."

The wolf snorted. “I’m actually surprised that you kept up with me just now. And your legs didn’t betray you on the way.” 

“I can’t actually explain how, i was just trying to go faster than you.”

“Good luck with that.” The wolf’s voice made it sound like it was something impossible. “But i could see you were having a good time, so maybe it’d be good for you if we do that again.” He took a second to let out a tired huff. “Sometimes. We’ll need the energy to hunt.”

Toru just hummed in agreement, letting his head fall back to the ground. He let himself close his eyes and enjoy the little break. The idea of doing that again was appealing, with the way he had felt running through the woods as fast as he could. It made him feel… free, in a way. And it was a weird thought to have, considering he was essentially trapped in a body that wasn’t him. It was too complicated to think about.

Both canines were quiet for a while, and Toru was pretty close to falling asleep. After that race, a nap didn’t sound so bad. Ha spared a glance towards the wolf, who didn’t seem in any hurry to stand up. 

_ ‘It’ll be just five minutes.’ _ He said to himself.  _ ‘Ten at most.’ _

  
  


_ “Toru!” _

_ The boy’s eyes blinked awake, staring at the sky above. Blades of grass tickled his face as the wind made them swing. He tried to guess the time of the day, but something was off. The sun was raised in all its glory, but the sky had the orange hue that belonged to the sunset.  _

_ He rubbed his eyes with a hand, maybe it was a trick of his half-asleep mind. But he looked up again, and the sky was still orange. Toru frowned at this, as if asking it why. _

_ “Toru!” _

_ ‘Who is that?’ He didn’t recognize the voice. It was like an echo, distant. Using his arms to raise his torso from the ground. But as his eyesight gained height, so did the grass around him. _

_ “Uh?” _

_ Toru looked around, and everything he could see was just grass. Not a glimpse of the horizon. Confused, he stood up, but the same happened. The blades of grass followed him up. _

_ ‘What is happening? Where am i?’ _

_ “Toru!” _

_ He turned around quickly, the voice now a lot more clearer. Like it was closer. He still couldn’t put a face to it, but it sounded strangely familiar. Toru started to walk ahead with caution, arms coming up to move the grass away. He didn’t even know in what direction he was going, but staying still didn’t sound like a better option.  _

_ The more he advanced, the more the anxiety grew inside him. Nothing around him gave him any sign of change, it was as if he was walking in circles. Soon his breathing quickened in fear, but he kept going. He kept going for hours and hours, the sun never going down above his head.  _

_ His legs finally gave up, forcing him to kneel down. Unlike before, the grass didn’t follow him, it stayed towering over him. He took deep breaths to fill his lungs, confused and scared. What was this place?  _

_ Toru’s head snapped up when he heard footsteps. Something was walking around him, circling him. He was unarmed, he couldn’t protect himself, and he was alone and lost.  _

_ The steps grew closer and closer, he could make out a silhouette. It walked towards him, and the creature stuck its head through the blades of grass.  _

  
  
  


With a gasp, the former human woke up. Trying to catch his suddenly gone breath, Toru tried to make sense of his dream.  _ ‘What was that place? And what was that thing stalking me?’  _ He had woken up before being able to see it, after all.  _ ‘All my dreams until now were memories. Does this mean anything? Or was it just a nightmare?’ _

__ He needed to calm down. No use in getting all jumpy because of a dream. He let his heartbeat settle down before sitting up. He was surprised Hajime had let him sleep, even more as he noticed the sun was starting to set. Maybe the wolf had fallen asleep too. 

Toru turned his head to where his companion had been resting, but found no one. The anxiety from his dream became real in an instant. He stood up and walked around the area, trying to see if the wolf was close by, with no luck. Did he just leave? No, it didn’t make sense after all his talk about two wolves being better than one and all that. 

_ ‘But where did he go?’  _

“Iwa-chan?” He called out, ears eager to catch any kind of response. “Iwa-chan!” 

He lowered his head to the ground, sniffing around the leaves. Maybe he could find a trail and follow whatever direction the wolf had gone to. His nose caught something, his instincts telling him that it belonged to a wolf. He just had to follow it and-

A growl broke his train of thought. But it wasn’t the one he had grown familiar with. Toru lifted his head slightly, looking to his right. 

Partly covered by the shadows of the trees, another wolf stared at him, fangs in full display. Toru didn't have much time to think before it lunged at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know leaving this in a cliffhanger after dissappearing for longer than three weeks makes me a bastard, but i can't help it.  
> But i'm alive and this fic isn't dead!  
> I... i have no excuse to give guys, i started playing Hades and then i went to play Pokemon and THEN i was like "Oh the new Mandalorian season started, right?"  
> I'm sorry :'v  
> But i promise i'll try to update sooner and not get lost in games/tv shows  
> I love you all and i hope you like this chapter! I really enjoyed writing it cause we're getting to a part i'm excited about!!
> 
> Btw shout out to Deveroo who's been commenting in all the chapters so far <3  
> See you guys next update!


	6. Ripped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: Blood and injuries

Toru instinctively threw his body to the side, making the wolf's fangs barely miss him. His thoughts were piling up in his head at such speed that he couldn't process them, until there was a single one screaming at him.

_ One single misstep and I'm dead. _

__ The former human turned his head to look for a way to escape. But the wolf didn't give him enough time, growling again and starting to circle him. Every muscle in Toru's body was tense, waiting for the inevitable attack to come. Was there any way to discourage the big animal from killing him? If he tried to seem vulnerable, the wolf could take it as a chance to strike. If he tried to look confident, it could just anger the wolf further.

_ Why didn't i ask Iwa-chan about this earlier?  _ He lamented. But again, what were the chances of meeting another lone wolf all by himself? Big, apparently. 

Whatever Hajime was doing, it had been the worst timing to leave Toru alone.

The big wolf snarled and lunged forward, jaws open. Toru jumped backwards, managing to take his throat away from biting distance. His long legs managed to create a long enough distance quickly, so that was what Toru decided to keep doing.

The wolf was getting more annoyed every time his attacks failed to reach the quick canine. Toru was starting to gain confidence, maybe this would tire out the other and make him leave. But his strategy was bound to fail eventually -because the gods were out to get him- and soon a bad landing made him slip and lose his balance for a second. And that second was all it took for the wolf to collide against him and send him to the ground. 

Toru gasped to regain the air that the strike had knocked out of his lungs, a shadow looming over him. His first instinct was to raise his back legs to try to push the wolf off, but the canine was too big, and the kicks only worked to fuel his anger. Toru’s eyes widened at a flash of fangs, and he barely managed to move his head to the side to avoid the incoming bite. 

The following bite was a different story. A high pitched whine came out of his throat as the sharp fangs closed over his left ear. He tugged away on instinct, yelping loudly at the pain. The wolf shaked his head violently, worsening Toru’s suffering before he inevitably ripped off the flesh. His body reacted by sticking up one of his front legs and scratching the wolf’s face, who yelped in surprise, but didn’t get off. 

The anxiety and fear that were filling Toru made his moves more frantic, more desperate to free himself. And as if his situation wasn’t bad enough already, a howl resonated in the distance. The wolf’s ears perked up, but he didn’t stop attacking.  _ So this wasn’t a lone wolf, just my luck. I’m going to get eaten by a whole pack.  _ Toru was close to giving up, because there was no way he was going to survive this. He felt fangs starting to graze his neck and he closed his eyes tight.

__ One second, the weight that had been trapping him disappeared, and a second later, he heard someone else growling. But Toru knew that growl. 

__ He opened his eyes to find Hajime tangled with the other wolf, both barking and snarling at each other. The other wolf was bigger in size, but Hajime was matching him in strength and surpassing him in aggressiveness. They were both trying to get a bite out of each other, but they moved so frantically that Toru couldn’t see if any of them was actually managing. He took the chance to roll on the ground and stop laying on his back, but the movement made his ear sting and he whined.

At the sound of his whimper, Hajime stepped back at a fast pace, the other wolf doing the same in wariness. Walking backwards slowly, and never taking his eyes away from the other, his companion positioned himself over Toru, covering his body with his own.

The bigger wolf started to circle them, looking for a chance to attack. Hajime was turning his body in time with the attacker, making sure to not create a blind spot. He gave Toru a quick glance, and upon seeing his injured, bleeding ear, the growling that was coming from his throat deepened in a way Toru hadn’t heard before. 

“Will you two overgrown pups  _ stop _ ?”

The three animals turned towards the exasperated voice. Yet another wolf had appeared, looking at them like they were all dumb.

“Seriously, cut it out.” He repeated and then walked towards the bigger wolf, who visibly relaxed at his approach. This new canine was a tad smaller, but still taller than Hajime. His fur was a strange pinkish brown color, one Toru hadn’t seen in an animal before. “Stop growling Hajime, you look stupid.” 

“Uh?” Toru looked up at the wolf protecting him, confused. Hajime reluctantly obeyed, but he was still tense, untrusty. He didn’t seem in any rush to move away from Toru either. The brown wolf sighed.

“Issei is not going to attack you.” He said, stepping forward to stand between them. But Toru tensed up at the movement, which made Hajime growl in warning again. The brown wolf stopped, keeping a neutral posture.

Hajime moved his eyes towards the black wolf, still wary. But he finally stepped away from Toru, nudging him to get up with his snout. With slightly trembling limbs, the tall canine did so while wearing a questioning look. His companion didn't utter a word, instead he just prompted Toru to start walking away by pushing his rear slightly. 

"Come on, Hajime, don't go." The brown wolf said as soon as they moved. "We can talk, stop. Hajime!"

But Hajime stayed quiet and ignored him, walking behind Toru, who sent the other two a curious and scared glance. He really hoped they didn't follow them and attacked again.

.

.

.

They eventually stopped when Hajime decided that they were at a safe distance. The former human looked at the wolf, expecting some explanation of what had just happened. But Hajime was silent and serious, more serious than usual at least. He was frowning, like something was bothering him, as he looked back to where they had gotten away from. 

Toru thought about asking, but the pain in his ear was bothering too much, and he didn’t expect to get an answer anyway. He laid down, with his right side against a tree. His injury stung, and the adrenalin from the fight was wearing down. His body shook with a whimper, more from the anxiety and fear from a while ago than from pain. 

He was so tired of this. It hadn’t even been a week, but he was exhausted from the whole situation. He wanted this to be just a bad dream, and to be woken up by his mom because he had fallen asleep outside again. Learning to hunt meant nothing when he couldn’t defend himself from other predators. If it wasn’t for Hajime showing up just in time, that wolf would have ripped his throat off.

Hajime walked over and laid down beside him, still quiet. Toru didn’t look up, hiding his face between his front paws. He never liked to show weakness to others, but he couldn’t care less in that moment. He couldn’t even cry properly in this body, because for some reasons tears wouldn't come out. Toru thought he was past feeling frustrated, but it seemed like everytime he managed to surpass one challenge, another one appeared. 

Toru went still as he felt something brush against his ear. A second passed, and he felt it again. Then it kept going. Uncovering one of his eyes, the canine looked up. Hajime was licking his injured ear, getting rid of the blood and cleaning it. Toru was too shocked to say anything. He never imagined the wolf as someone caring, at least not in this particular way. But here he was, doing it unprompted.

It was a weird gesture, but probably common for wolves. Maybe it was meant to be a comforting gesture, the equivalent of a hug or something similar. Whatever it was, Toru appreciated it. 

Hajime must have noticed him staring, because he stopped, but didn’t look back. He wasn’t frowning anymore, just looked worried and… guilty. “I’m sorry i didn’t get to you in time.” He said, ears dropping. “I shouldn’t have left you alone.” 

Toru stayed quiet for a few seconds, then turned his head towards the wolf. “Where did you go?” He asked. 

“I went to check something. I noticed there were wolves near, but the smell was familiar so i…” He sighed. “I didn’t expect one of them to find you before i was back, Oikawa.”

The former human hummed. He lifted his injured ear. “How bad is it?”

“It will heal.” He replied,quickly. “But it’s, um, smaller now.”

In spite of the connotation of that, the wording made Toru snort. “Guess I'm not a big eared idiot now?”

That got Hajime to finally look at him, a tentative smile on his muzzle. “One big ear and a half.”

Toru smiled back, a small thing but it was there. It could have been a lot worse, he guessed. A damaged ear was better than a broken neck. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He felt like sleeping, but it seemed like that was the only thing he was doing lately. 

As if reading his mind, the wolf asked. “Are you tired?”

“No, no. I just- I want to calm down. I just need a moment.” 

“Okay.” 

Toru felt how the wolf started to lick his ear again. As odd as it was, it felt comforting. 

.

.

.

Hours later found the two canines enjoying the rewards of a successful hunt. It was a simple hare, but enough for the day. 

With his head clearer and pain gone, Toru was now waiting for a chance to ask his companion about the other wolves. Hajime was in a good mood, maybe because the hunting hadn’t been a pain or because Toru was feeling better. He wasn’t sure of the reason.

“What is it?”

“Uh?” The tall canine blinked confused, pausing mid-bite. 

“You’ve been staring at me for a while. What is it?” The wolf explained, one ear raised in lazy curiosity. 

_ Oops.  _ He needed to be less obvious. Swallowing down the piece of meat, Toru spoke up. “I was just thinking-”

“Careful there.”

Toru frowned but ignored the jab. “You said those wolves smelled familiar. What does that mean?” 

As soon as the question was said, the wolf frowned too. He sat up, losing interest in the food and looking to the side. “It was nothing.”

“I know you like to say i’m an idiot, but i’m not really that gullible, Iwa-chan.” Toru pointed out. “And seeing as i got my ear bitten off because you went to investigate, i think I have a right to ask.” 

Hajime winced at the reminder, glancing at the mentioned injury. The guilt was back on his face, mixed with annoyance at the fact that Toru had used that against him. He let out a sigh before speaking up. “Alright, fair. The trails I found… They smelled like my former pack. The-”

“Wait, so that wolf that attacked me was your friend?”

“Let me talk, dumbass.” The wolf growled at him. “And no, I didn't know that one. I was searching for the other wolf.”

Toru tilted his head. “The brown one?” 

Hajime nodded. “His name is Takahiro, we are both from the same litter. He left our pack a year ago, so i was surprised to find him.”

“So he’s your brother?” The wolf nodded again. “You don’t look anything alike.” 

Hajime snorted. “I guess you can say that. When I found him he was alone, and he didn’t get to mention his new partner before we heard you screaming.”

Toru grimaced as the scene replayed in his head. He arched an eyebrow when he noticed something. “Wait, if you found him, how come you got to us sooner than him?”

“I’ve always been faster than him.” He replied with a shrug. 

“Is it because you are smaller?”

“I’ll bite you.”

“Don’t joke about that, i’m sensitive.” He said, feigning a hurt expression. The wolf rolled his eyes and Toru chuckled. “But seriously, I hadn’t noticed how small you are compared to other wolves before today.”

“I’m not  _ that _ small.” He said annoyed. “And it’s not a problem. I got that one off you without a problem, and he was bigger than Takahiro, remember?”

Toru hummed in agreement. Thinking back to it, he was surprised at how easy it had looked despite the size difference. It actually made him more frustrated with himself at not being able to stand his own ground. He was the same size as the wolf that attacked him, but he hadn’t stood a chance. Yes, he was thinner than a normal wolf, but that shouldn’t have been a problem if he knew how to fight. 

“What are you frowning about?” Hajime asked, catching him off guard.

“Oh, just remembering. I’m... a bit annoyed that I couldn't defend myself, if i’m being honest.”

The wolf’s stare softened at that. “It’s not your fault. We learn to fight by playing when we are pups. You weren’t even walking in four paws a few days ago.” He looked down. “If anything i should have thought about this before.”

Surprised at the admission, Toru went silent, thinking. He managed to learn how to hunt, he could do this, right? “You can still teach me.” He stated, then hesitantly added. “You can, right?”

Hajime blinked at him. “Well, I wasn't planning to leave you alone again after this happened, but… it would be good for you to know what to do if it happens again and I'm not there, for some reason.”

“You know, I appreciate this… caring side you are showing, but it’s actually starting to creep me out.” Toru tried to joke, feeling the heavy air between them. “Where's grumpy Iwa-chan?”

The wolf was, obviously, not amused. But it looked like his stance was more relaxed. He actually laid down again to eat. “Don’t cry when you can’t beat me.”

A challenge? Toru could get behind that. “Please, I will make you eat those words.”

“I want to see you try, especially with those branches you have for legs.”

“Don’t be mean to the injured one.”

That actually got a laugh out of the wolf. Toru chuckled in company. 

. 

.

That night, when they were both trying to sleep, another question popped up in Toru’s head.

“Hey, Iwa-chan?” He called at the wolf, who was laying beside him. He got a hum as reply, the other not even opening his eyes. “Are you going to search for your brother again tomorrow?”

Hajime sighed. “I don’t know… I don’t want that other wolf near us.”

“But your brother said he wouldn’t attack us again.” He pointed out. “And he looked like he wanted to talk to you.” 

The wolf opened his eyes, tired. “Why are you insisting on this? I thought you would be happy to not see them again.”

“Well, yes, i would like to not be attacked again. But when I think about it, it was a misunderstanding, right? Your brother’s friend… he didn’t know I was with you. Or that you knew Takahiro.” He explained. “And… he’s your family. You should talk to him.”

Hajime’s surprised stare let him know that he had caught the unspoken words.  _ I would do anything to see my own family now. _

“I… i will think about it.” He relented. 

Satisfied, Toru closed his eyes. A few minutes went by, as he tried to fall asleep. Something rested on his neck, and the loud exhale over his ears told him to not worry about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!   
> Just here to say sorry because this time i don't have designs to show qwq  
> Maybe for the next chapter i will have them done so you can have a clearer picture of how Mattsun and Makki look as wolves  
> I've been waiting to introduce these two, even if they just appeared for a short bit in this chapter
> 
> Hope you like this one!!!


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